


After Asgard

by SubtlePanic



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bad Jokes, Based on a Tumblr Post, Character Death, Friendship, Marvel Universe, Other, Outer Space, Panic Attacks, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Post-Credits Scene, canon divergence - avengers infinity war, headcanons, korg and miek shall comfort her, mainly valkyrie, taika waititi would be proud (?), thor ragnarok - Freeform, valkyrie is trying her best despite the pain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 04:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14585196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SubtlePanic/pseuds/SubtlePanic
Summary: The space adventures of one Asgardian heroine, a man made of rocks, and his small insect friend... And it all began after a war on Asgard. [CONTAINS INFINITY WAR SPOILERS]





	1. panic panic panic safety

**Author's Note:**

> This definitely won’t match up 100% to canon (minorly regarding the timeline), but I’ll generally be staying close to it!

Bodies were piling up for the second time in Valkyrie’s life, but this time was different.

This time was much, much worse. 

The battle had begun before the Asgardians had time to prepare. Thor and Loki ran down to the main area of the ship to warn the passengers, but by then Thanos and his children had her people surrounded. Valkyrie was still in her old warrior attire, still recovering from Ragnarok. She once again wielded her weapons and fought bravely, but Thanos was far too powerful. Our heroine had to watch in agony as her people, just freed from Hela’s clutches, began to die around her. Innocent men, women, and children were crying and bleeding out and begging to please, please be spared, they’ll do anything you ask, just don’t hurt them—

Valkyrie was thrown against the wall with such force that she could physically feel her bones shake from the impact. The woman became disoriented, her vision blurring and head pounding like a drum right in her cranium. 

“You will never learn,” said Thanos’ child, “the love of your savior.”

“Thanos is no savior of mine,” Valkyrie spat, her voice slurred and weak.

“Which is why you will die at my hands. You are a fool to think you could ever overcome the bitter truth of your future.” The alien readied her fatal attack, and Valkyrie stiffened as she saw, in the distance, Thor barreling towards her. Panic overcame the blood in her veins as she began to scream out, “NO, YOU IDIOT—“

There was a blinding flash of cyan light, a crackle of thunder, and then her vision went dark. 

 

 

“Uh, ma’am? Ma’am, are you alive?” Valkyrie felt something large and rough nudge her body and she groaned in agony. The warrior’s body was sore, she was sweating profusely, and—

The ship was on fire. Bodies were scattered around her, covering nearly every inch of the spacecraft and there was blood, so much blood, and Valkyrie could feel her heart growing heavy and the ache in her head was nauseating, she couldn’t breath, couldn’t move—

“Hey, you’re alright!! Deep breathes, Scrapper, I’ll help you up. We need to get outta here, and quick.” Valkyrie finally looked up to see a blue man made entirely of rocks standing in front of her. 

“Who the hell are you, again?” she asked, knowing for a fact that he wasn’t Asgardian. He held out his hand and started ushering her off to what she assumed was where the escape pods were located.

“My name’s Korg, I’m made of rocks, my friend over there is Miek. We’re glad to have you on our team!” Korg spoke cheerily despite the dreadful situation. Valkyrie was trying to convince herself that this cartoon character of a man was real. However, as she was lost in her thoughts, she stumbled over something. Glancing down, her heart stuck in her throat.

It was Loki. 

Trembling slightly, she noticed the deep black-and-purple bruises completely covering the pale flesh of his neck. It was obvious what Thanos had done to him. What Thanos could have so easily done to any of her people. She felt sorrow for him, even though they weren’t exactly friends, and felt even more pain in her heart for how Thor must feel.

Wait. Thor, where was he?

On instinct, she whipped her head around to search for the God of Thunder, but Korg stopped her. “Hey, I know you’re looking for Thor, but he isn’t here. Hasn’t been since I woke up.” The rock-man pulled her off to the pods and she caught sight of his friend, Miek. “I‘m sorry, since you woke up? And when was that?”

”Um, Miek, you know?” Miek shook his head. “Alright, we don’t know. I just woke up in the snack bar and everything was on fire, so I ran out here to see what was going on. Oh, you should’ve been down there, the Grandmaster has some great food on this ship.” Valkyrie ignored his pathetic story and addressed the more pressing issue. 

“Is anyone else alive?” she asked, and Korg shook his head in sorrow. 

“No one. Miek and I checked everyone on the ship and nobody besides us were left. We are all that’s left of the Resistance, I guess.”

Valkyrie stumbled into the escape pod with Korg holding her up. He sat in the pilot’s seat and she strapped herself in as a passenger, while Miek stayed in the back. 

“Do you know how to fly this thing?” she asked. Something about his demeanor didn’t make her so sure that they’d get away with their lives.

”Sure do! In fact, I went to flight school before I ended up on Sakaar.”

Valkyrie nodded. “Huh. You must fly well, then.”

”Nope, I failed every single one of my classes!”

The heroine looked back at Korg in horror, the sudden panic immediately rejuvenating her sore body. 

“Ready the thrusters! ...Is that what they’re called? I’ve always wanted to say that!” He pressed some buttons and twisted some knobs as she tried to talk him out of it.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be fly _INNNNNNG_ —,” Valkyrie screeched as the pod zoomed forward and into the dark abyss of space, stampeding towards our little earth. 


	2. disco dancing with the devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A silent cruise on the pod turns into a day of excitement.

After the initial panic from Korg’s horrendous flying, the pod became silent. No one wanted to speak of what happened. No one even wanted to think of what happened, Valkyrie especially, because she just knew that if she focused on it, she’d go into yet another panic.

Valkyrie needed a break.

Oh, how she wished she could be back on Sakaar, where she had what seemed to be an endless supply of alcohol to drown out her feelings. Miek brought enough food onto the pod to last the group at least until they could run into somebody willing to take them in. Unfortunately, there was not one drop of alcohol on the spacecraft. She was going cold turkey for the time being, and it was making her jittery.

“So,” Korg began, noticing her sudden unease, “I don’t think you ever introduced yourself!”

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. “You know who I am. ‘Scrapper 142’ ring any bells?”

“Well, yeah, I know that! But that’s not your name, is it? ‘Cause no offense but that’s a pretty bad name for a kid.”

“Oh, and Korg isn’t?”

“Hey, Korg is my grandfather’s name!” From behind him, Miek made a series of clicks and chirps. “See? Miek thinks I have a lovely name.”

Valkyrie sighed, but finally gave in and told the pair her actual name: “It’s Brunhilde. I’ll let you call me Valkyrie.”

“Ooh, sounds fancy. Asgardian names are so royal. Makes me feel a little self conscious, if I’m honest.” Miek replied with another set of agreeable chirps. Valkyrie settled into a slouch in her chair; her head rested against her hand, which was propped up on the arm of the chair.

She had just started to doze off when Korg reached forward, tapped a couple buttons, and started playing some music. It was an upbeat disco song that she’d heard playing on Sakaar quite often. Korg and Miek were dancing and humming along with the music, and out of instinct Valkyrie tapped her foot. This wasn’t so bad. The three started really getting into it, so Korg got up to dance before Valkyrie ran over to keep the pod on auto-pilot. Miek did some spins on the floor of the spacecraft, Korg did the sprinkler, and Valkyrie only swayed and bobbed her head. They laughed for the first time in while, and they didn’t even notice the other pod coming their way until Miek noticed it and shrieked.

With lightning speed, Brunhilde dove for the controls and swerved out of the way. The other pod flew by, stopped, and turned back towards the trio. Valkyrie revved the craft forward at full speed, which caused Korg to fall over on top of Miek and roll across the floor.

“Buckle up, idiots!” she cried, and the two scrambled their way to a seat.

Valkyrie weaved through debris and forgotten spacecrafts before she looped around an abandoned ship to hide. She watched in silence as the pod slowly floated along the darkness. It was then that Valkyrie realized that the pod was similar to that of the ship they were on. Before she could do anything else, the pod received a signal from the other one.

They wanted to talk.

She gestured for Korg to accept the comm and he answered wearily.

“Uh, hello? Who is this?”

The other line remained silent for a moment. Korg looked to Valkyrie who told him to wait a moment. After several long, long seconds of nothing, the other line crackled and buzzed as a familiar voice came through.

“Hello. It seems we meet yet again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow i wonder who it is??? ;)


	3. new and improved tricks performed by a rat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With new knowledge from an old acquaintance, the ride to Earth might finally start to pick up some pace.

“Hello. It seems we meet yet again.”

Everyone in the pod froze as the voice drifted through the air. Valkyrie stood and headed to where Korg was, picking up the receiver. She pressed the button and was about to speak when the pod emerged from behind the forgotten ship, casting a shadow over them. It proceeded to careen towards their pod, and latched onto theirs. Again, the familiar voice came through: “Open up, won’t you?”

Valkyrie growled (which scared Korg and Miek, so they didn’t say anything) and she slammed down the switch to open the hatch. With a shudder, the door slid open to reveal a tall silhouette emerging from the darkness.

He walked in slowly to build up tension, letting his heel make a crisp rhythm against the pod’s floor. He kept his shoulders level, posture straight, head held high—

Then Loki tripped and fell right on his face.

“Oh fuck me,” he muttered, laying down for a while to recover. Valkyrie kicked him with the toe of her boot and Korg raced forward, bubbling with excitement.

“Hey, buddy! We thought you were dead! Nice to see you made it!”

“Yes, how nice to have you,” the warrior said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She maintained eye contact with him as he jumped to his feet and stood tall again.

“Garbage queen,” Loki greeted with a curt nod.

“Rat prince,” she replied, with a similar manner. Valkyrie was pissed at him for about a thousand reasons at the moment, and she wasn’t about to let him live it down.

Loki turned away from her to say hello to Miek and Korg, who were completely opposite from Valkyrie’s irate mood. They engulfed him in a bone-crushing hug, lifted him off the ground, and spun him around like a carousel. The displeased look on the trickster’s face helped lighten the heroine’s mood, just a bit.

After the small reunion, it was time that Valkyrie asked the big question: “How are you alive?”

Korg chimed in with, “Yeah, you looked pretty dead to us, buddy.”

Loki sighed and rolled his eyes. “It was an illusion. I created a copy of myself that could take my place,” he said, “and Thanos would have known that had he obtained the Reality Stone beforehand. Lucky for us, we had nothing to worry about.”

“Then where were you, really?” Valkyrie said, taking a step towards the prince. “What were you doing when your own brother saw you dead on the floor? When your people were begging for help?”

Loki had a look of shame in his eyes, yet he still stood with a dignified air. “I saw Thanos kill my other self, I heard my brother’s cries, I watched my people be slaughtered... But I did what I could and hauled as many survivors as I could to escape. I stayed as far from Thanos as I could, and those people walked with me.

“I regret leaving my brother, I regret leaving that green beast, I regret all the things I didn’t do and people I couldn’t save, but I tried. Thanos came to the ship because of my wrongdoings in the past, and I thought I could change that, but I suppose not. He’s too powerful. Besides, it’s not like I’ve ever been great at succeeding in much of anything.”

Loki slumped into a seat after his spiel, and Valkyrie stayed quiet.

“Well, that was heavy. Anybody want a snack? To lighten the mood?” Korg said, nervously glancing between the two.

Valkyrie sighed, picking out some fruit and biting into it before speaking. “So there are other survivors, but where?”

“Well on their way to Earth, I’d assume,” Loki replied.

“And did you see your brother leave? Or Hulk?”

“I never did, but my brother is strong. I’m sure he made it and is on his way to Earth right at this very moment.”

“Let’s hope so,” said Valkyrie. “We have a war to finish.”

With that, she turned back to the controls and started to get the pod moving again.

“Wait, but the other pod is still attached!” cried Korg, but Valkyrie only sped onwards.

“My turn to do some reckless flying,” she said, “and get us the hell out of this mess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’ve honestly only half-planned how this is going to go, and i add things every day, so if things get erratic i’m very sorry :(


	4. a handful of tragedies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valkyrie remembers a dark time from her past, and the others arrive to pull her through.

Blood. Chaos. Destruction.

Hela was too powerful, too quick-thinking to be stopped by the Valkyrior. Brunhilde watched helplessly as her friends and family of fighters were struck down again and again and again. Regardless, she knew the risk, and for Asgard, she would give anything. That includes her own life, hard as it may be.

Hela used her magic skillfully, her weapons conjured up in milliseconds and slicing through the tension as she rained her fury down upon Brunhilde’s comrades.

In a matter of minutes, her pegasus was shot down and Brunhilde was sent careening through the terror into a sea of bodies below. The fall nearly knocked the wind out of her, but she took not a second of rest. Hela would pay for what she’d done. It was her duty to protect the people of Asgard, and killing Hela was the only way to save them.

Climbing to her feet, Brunhilde bolted towards Hela, her blade in hand, aimed right for her head. She raised her elbows to land a blow before Hela swiftly made a motion with her hand, causing an enormous blade to appear out of thin air. Time began to slow as Brunhilde continued running towards the villain, feeling as though she was moving through water; her limbs were weighed down and cumbersome. Just before Hela’s blade could kill her, Brunhilde saw from the corner of her eye her dearest friend and lover. She was like fire, graceful and fierce as she sprinted in Hela’s direction faster than Brunhilde had ever seen her move.

Suddenly, Brunhilde was shoved out of the way and Hela’s blade glided straight through her lover’s heart. The woman cried out, a spray of blood staining Brunhilde’s cheek and armor, as she fell upon the other bodies. Hela laughed maniacally before turning to cause more destruction upon the few warriors who remained.

With a sob, Brunhilde crawled toward the body of her lost lover, cradling the beautiful woman in her arms. Her body was still so warm, but the light in her eyes had faded. The fire was gone, vanquished far too soon and far too quickly.

It was she who should have died, not the woman in her arms. Not all the other Valkyrior who were laying among their own mangled bodies and fresh blood.

_She should have died._

_She should have fucking died._

This was her fault, if she had thought this through than the only woman she ever truly loved wouldn’t be dead.

If she wasn’t so eager to kill that monstrous woman, her lover would still be fighting alongside her.

_She should have died she should have died she should have died she should have died she should have—_

“Valkyrie!”

“Hey, you alright pal?”

“Wake up, already, I’m— wait, she’s up!”

“Give her space, give her space!”

Valkyrie awoke to three heads peering over her. Somehow she had ended up on the floor, and she was shaking so bad that her entire body was aching. Her chest hurt and it felt like hands were wrapped around her throat, choking the air out of her. On top of that, every time she blinked, she saw flashes of the battle with Hela, and now the war against Thanos and the death of her friends and the blood, oh so much blood, dripping from the walls and soaking through her clothes and drowning her, just drowning her entire body—

“Snap out of it!” Loki cried, crouching down so he could be face to face with the woman. “You’re safe, you’re here with us, we are going to be fine. Just try to sit up and take a breath.” The trickster carefully put a hand on her shoulder so she wouldn’t be startled. With great effort, the Loki helped the woman hold herself up and into a sitting position on the cold ground. Resting her head on the wall and breathing in and out for three seconds each, she steadied herself. She was in desperate need of a drink.

“Are you alright?” Korg asked, taking a seat an acceptable distance from her in order to let her have some space. Slowly, she nodded. “Just a bad dream.”

“Of the war?” Loki asked, and she nodded again.

Korg looked to Loki for context, but the god shook his head as if to say, “That is a story for another time.” Miek came and sat near the group, chirping and bobbing his head towards Valkyrie.

Korg began to translate. “He says that everything will be alright, and if you need anything, we will be here to comfort you. He also said that you should probably have something to eat right about now.”

Valkyrie’s stomach rumbled in response, and she accepted the offer. As she was handed a bowl of something savory, she weakly asked, “Who will fly the pod?” Loki looked to her and said that he would take over for her shift while she rested up.

“Thank you, to all of you,” she said once everyone had settled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve dealt with my... stuff... without booze. I feel a bit better now.”

The group acknowledged her gratitude with a handful of smiles and jokes, and they rode peacefully past her troubled history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for not updating in so long! i tried to make this one as long as i could to make up for it, though it’s more of a filler chapter. i promise it’ll end nicely!! <3


	5. highway to hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their journey nearing its close, the team prepares for the last battle.

The journey to Midgard ended sooner than the team had planned.

Originally it would have taken nearly an entire day to make it to the planet, but Miek happened to have a few tricks up his sleeve that allowed them to get a move on. There were even a few Asgardians that were discovered along the way, who greeted their fellow survivors with open arms and hope for safe travel. It was nice to see some new faces after the journey that felt like forever.

Things were going well so far, and it was only when Valkyrie was flying for some time that the pod picked up the signal of another spacecraft that was coming in fast. “Hey, what the hell is that?” she yelled, catching the attention of the other passengers.

“Not sure,” said Korg, looking worriedly at the signal.

“It’s a huge craft,” Valkyrie commented. “Clearly someone with expensive taste. But why would they be heading toward Midgard?”

“Perhaps it’s another army of Thanos.”

“No, that can’t be. His minions must be there by now, or ravaging another planet.”

Valkyrie looked back to see Loki shuffling his feet in the corner. He was oddly quiet, and the woman knew something was going on in his little pea brain.

She stood and started striding towards him, crossing her arms and glaring at him. “You’re not telling us something.”

Loki swallowed, keeping his eyes down. ”You don’t know that.”

Valkyrie shoved him against the wall, holding him by the collar and staring him down. “If you don’t fess up, so help me I will—“

“ _PUT ME DOWN—_ “

“I will _not_ —“

“ _IF YOU PUT ME DOWN I’LL TELL YOU._ ”

She dropped him immediately but kept him cornered while Korg and Miek watched shyly from the other side of the ship.

“I may or may not have made a call to the Grandmaster while I was alone in my pod,” Loki confessed.

Valkyrie growled and ran a hand through her hair. “And why would you think that was a good idea, huh, you snake?”

“He can help us defeat Thanos, I can assure you. Just trust me.”

“Well how’d you make him so determined to get here?”

“I, uh, told him that I was attacked. And killed. Sort of.” Loki coughed awkwardly after that.

The woman made her way back to the controls before saying (with her usual snarky attitude), “Oh, so he missed his favorite damaged pet? How sweet.”

Loki growled in anger, hissing like a snake as he blasted off insults towards her that she paid no attention to. The group was nearly touching down on the planet, heading into an area that the pod recognized as “Wakanda”.

There was a large expanse of trees in the area, and before Valkyrie could search for an area to land in, the scenery shifted around her, revealing what looked like towering buildings in a high tech city. Korg and Miek stepped forward, sounds of childlike wonder escaping them at the beauty of it all. And yet, even through this lovely country, the group sensed a tension. Loki must have noticed it as well, because he pointed to the distance, where a large field nearby another tower was surrounded by what seemed to be a force field. Inside, they could see an army of men and women stretching across the land, all engaging in battle with giant creatures that clearly were not friendly.

“Thanos’ children must already be here,” Loki said darkly.

“But how’d they get into the force field?” Korg wondered aloud, and his question was answered when Valkyrie pointed out the opening on the other side. “I can maneuver us in through the opening and land near that tower,” she spoke, “then we can gather our bearings and fight alongside them.”

Loki was apprehensive. “What if they attack us? We’ve never met these people.”

“If they are fighting that purple excuse for a dildo and his kids, they must be on our side,” she declared. Korg and Miek agreed.

“We need as many allies as we can get,” said Korg. “And they look pretty strong. I like them. Let’s go in!”

Loki said nothing else, and Valkyrie began to rush towards the opening. It was going to be hard to fly through with all those beasts coming in; each time it seemed that they would finally stop coming, more would make way and barrel through. Valkyrie tightened her grip on the controls and warned the others to stay back as she positioned the spacecraft to a good degree.

“Ready for this?” she called.

“Absolutely not—,” Loki yelled, but she had already slammed the controller away from her, and the pod rocked forward with a screech through the air, shaking from the power.

As they neared the entrance, the beasts turned to swipe at the pod, creating dents and the horrible sound of claws on metal. Valkyrie grunted angrily when the beasts nearly threw her off her course, but she kept steady and nicked many of them on her way back up after they made it through.

Racing to the tower, she landed with ease as the others prepared themselves for the war to come.

As they were exiting the pod to join the battle, however, there was a sudden rush of air and a gigantic spacecraft was plummeting into the land some distance away. A cluster of beasts were thrown into the air from the impact, and dirt flew up around the area.

Immediately after the impact, the group saw Thanos moving about somewhere in the forest. Through those trees, they could see Thanos hashing it out with another group, and it looked like he was winning. Even from the distance, Loki could see that he was sporting five infinity stones. He was just one away from total domination.

Feeling uneasy, the group moved out, with the intention of stopping Thanos from attacking the remaining groups of fighters. They could tell as they came closer that there was an android that seemed to have a stone sitting right on his head, and there was a woman desperately trying to destroy it. She looked frantically behind her as more of her comrades seemed to be distracting Thanos.

Valkyrie began forming a plan of attack when the Grandmaster tapped her on the shoulder, looking annoyed. Meanwhile, Loki looked surprised and oddly happy to see him there, and he began sputtering and tripping over his words. “Master, what are you—“

“Hush, dear, I’m here to help. I was on that ship over there that crashed, I was in a bit of a hurry. That purple grape is really pissing me off and if you don’t kill him, I will. What’s the plan, kids?”

Valkyrie raised a brow, quickly explaining how the group would surround Thanos and close in to retrieve the gauntlet. The Grandmaster shook his head dismissively. “Not good enough. We need a plan that won’t be expected, something to catch him off guard while we take the gauntlet.”

As the men discussed a new plan of attack, Valkyrie’s mind drifted to her love of drinking, and the fact that there must be some jet fuel still in the escape pod. She spun around to Korg and Miek, her eyes wide as the plan started falling into place. “Korg, Miek, I need you to get as much jet fuel as you can carry right now and bring it back to me, understand? Be quick.”

The pair looked confused, but they hurried off anyway without a word of complaint. Valkyrie then turned to Loki, a new sense of strength growing within her. “I have a feeling your brother is going to be here soon. When he arrives, you bring him straight to Thanos, and we’ll handle it from there.”

Loki seemed to be finding a way to get out of talking to his brother for as long as possible, but the determined (and vaguely threatening) look on the heroine’s face convinced him otherwise. “I will do that.”

The Grandmaster was about to say something when Valkyrie gave her final orders. “You, sir, are going to need that little death wand of yours. When I move in, you should be right behind me. We’re taking him down together, Grandmaster.” He seemed satisfied with her proposal and nodded, a proud smile on his face.

Valkyrie looked back at her teammates, Korg and Miek already back with a ton of jet fuel. She cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath, ready to down her next drink.

“Time to get down to business, bitches.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> longer chapter then usual because we’re almost at the end!! maybe one or two more chapters and we’ll be finished for real :,) (also i changed a few things regarding wakanda’s force field and the timeline for the story’s sake, so things are going to be a bit off, which should be expected)


End file.
